Quarterly Board Meeting - 9:30 am - November 6, 2024

North Carolina Board for Licensing of Geologists Minutes 

November 6, 2024 

NC State University Club, Raleigh, NC 

The meeting was called to order at 9:35 am by Board Chair Richard Spruill. Dr. Spruill read the conflict-of-interest statement. Other Board members present included Dennis LaPoint, Kenneth Taylor, Steve Stadelman and Joan Smyth joined the meeting by Zoom. Guests present included former Board member Rachel Kirkman and ASBOG® Executive Director Deana Sneyd. Dwain Veach, soon to be NC State Geologist, Executive Director Barbara Geiger, Assistant to the Executive Director Jenna Miller, and Phillip Reynolds, Assistant AG were also in attendance. Emily Klein was absent. Dr. Taylor noted that, as the State Geologist and employee of the NC Department of Environmental Quality, he would refrain from participating in the deliberation or taking any action by the Board with respect to any matter involving an employee of the Department. 

Welcome and Introductions 

Dr. Spruill welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending. 

Approval of Minutes 

Following a brief review of the August 21, 2024 minutes, Motion was made by Dr. Stadelman to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Dr. LaPoint and carried. 

Financial Report 

Dr. Taylor presented the first quarter profit and loss statement and balance sheet. Motion was made by Dr. LaPoint to accept the financial report as presented. The motion was seconded by Dr. Stadelman and carried. 

Administrative Report 

Individual and Corporate Licensees Stats 

Ms. Miller reported that there are 1130 active individual licensees and 214 active corporate licenses. 

She also reported that during the October administration of the ASBOG® exam, there were 34 candidates who sat for Part 1 (FG) and 23 candidates who sat for Part 2 (PG). Ms. Sneyd noted that the most recent administration was the largest ever administration of the National examination. It was suggested that the NC Board perform a time series analysis of candidate participation and performance. 

The Board discussed sharing the exam result statistics collected by ASBOG® with North Carolina universities whose students took the exam. Ms. Sneyd noted that there must be at least ten candidates from one institution to obtain the institution examination data. The Board discussed scheduling visits to the universities having geological programs, throughout the year, in addition to the one meeting of the Board held at a North Carolina university annually. Dr. Spruill said that he would be willing to contact and go to UNC-Charlotte soon, since that meeting was postponed. Dr. Taylor volunteered to go with him. Others agreed that they would also be willing to attend. Dr. Stadelman suggested outlining a schedule for all the institutions of higher learning with geology curricula and to invite past members of the Board to participate in visiting those schools. 

Dr. Stadelman made the motion to authorize actual expenses for Board members and past Board members to visit universities; to make potential candidates aware of the requirement of licensure and the National examination and to share the idea of accessing data from the examination to faculty of those institutions. The motion was seconded by Dr. LaPoint and carried. 

2025 Meeting Schedule 

The tentative meeting schedule for 2025 was discussed and adopted by the Board as presented. The Board meeting at Western Carolina in October or November will be determined by the University. 

Legal Report and Training 

Board Counsel Phillip Reynolds delivered the legal report, addressing: Updates on the periodic review of existing rules and training sessions relevant to Board operations, giving the Board an overview of the NC General Statutes Commission and the Board complaint process. 

Continuing Education Report Approval of Committee Report 

The Committee reviewed a total of 2 applications. Of those, one activity was approved as submitted and one activity was approved for a different number of hours. Motion was made by Dr. LaPoint and seconded by Dr. Taylor to approve the report of the Continuing Education Committee as presented. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously. Dr. Spruill volunteered to serve on the CE Committee. 

ASBOG® 

ASBOG® 2024 Fall Annual Meeting & Workshops – October 22-26, 2024 - Ft. Collins, CO 

Dr. LaPoint gave a brief overview of the annual meeting and COE workshop held in Ft. Collins, CO. Deana Sneyd, ASBOG® Executive Director shared with the Board that long-time psychometrician would retire at the end of 2025. She informed the Board that the move to Computer Based Testing (CBT) had resulted in positive changes, such as disseminating the scores quicker. The Counsel of Examiners (COE) will remain intact, as that group of experts does the work and is the synergy/engine of ASBOG®. 

Dr. Spruill asked Ms. Sneyd about the possibility of specialty practice-area exams. She answered that realizing that there is a move in that direction among some professions, ASBOG® is looking at AIPG and states that require the ASBOG® exam. 

Ms. Sneyd told the Board that ASBOG® was in the process of strategic planning, as she and Dr. Kath would retire in several years. The strategic plan will reallocate functions of the Association including the website, events and the examination. The plan is to do what’s best for the Association and to have more State Boards represented at the Administrators Workshop. 

Ms. Smyth shared information regarding Hurricane Helene, which hit the Western part of North Carolina in September, stating that geologists should be consulted when building, especially in the mountains. She shared that there had been hundreds, if not thousands of landslides because of Helene, reiterating the importance of educating the public regarding the importance of health, safety and welfare. 

The need for more economic geologists in the profession was discussed. The Board acknowledged that discovery of new minerals may encourage more geologists to specialize in that segment of the field. Dr. LaPoint reminded the Board that those in the oil industry are exempt from licensure. 

Dr. LaPoint brought up a concern for the lack of ethics in today’s professional realm and asked Ms. Sneyd where ASBOG® stood regarding leaning into ethics education. She said that she felt it was up to the individual organization and that ASBOG® relied on the individual State Boards to inform them, not the other way around. She also stated that the engineering Boards do not have an ethics requirement. 

Dr. Spruill asked staff to ensure that Ethics be a topic on the agenda for the January 22, 2025 meeting of the board. It was noted that the NC Board has a Code of Conduct which addresses ethics. 

The Board recessed for lunch at 12:00 noon and reconvened at 12:47 pm. 

Old Business 

General Geologic Discussion 

Support of Students in NORTH CAROLINA University Geology Programs 

Dr. Spruill noted that the Board is doing their part for the geological profession by visiting North Carolina institutions of higher learning, connecting with students in an effort to educate them and faculty regarding licensure. The Board discussed the elimination or “watering down” of university geology programs, noting that there could be friction among faculty members in multi-discipline programs. Dr. Spruill noted that not requiring basic geological courses, i.e. minerology, petrology and earth materials puts students at risk of not being able to pass the exam. Again, the Board reiterated the need for Board members to meet with faculty in these departments to ask what the Board can do to support them. 

Discussion followed regarding licensure. The Board continues to wrestle with how to get university faculty to take the exam and become licensed. This discussion can be had at the university visits, asking faculty members if they would be interested in licensure and would they be willing to take the exam. It would be optimum if there were an advocate in each university geology department to coordinate between the Board and the students. Dr. LaPoint made the motion to send a letter to each geological department in North Carolina, requesting that they name a liaison to work directly with the Board. The motion was seconded by Dr. Stadelman and carried. 

Electronic Seal – Board Provided 

Staff members shared with the Board the many requests for electronic seals. Motion was made by Dr. Stadelman to proceed with development of an electronic seal and to make it available, along with currently offered options, at a reasonable cost. The motion was seconded by Dr. LaPoint and carried. 

New Business 

Hurricane/Disaster Relief Efforts – CE self-directed hours? 

The Board discussed the possibility of allowing geological work done for hurricane relief efforts to be used as self-directed continuing education for the 2025-2026 license renewal. Motion was made by Dr. LaPoint, seconded by Dr. Stadelman to allow licensees to use work done toward recovery and relief efforts in Western North Carolina, to be used as CE for the upcoming license renewal. The motion carried unanimously. 

Per NC GS § 143-318.11(6), motion was made by Dr. Stadelman to move into closed session to review applications for license and to discuss confidential matters. The motion was seconded by Dr. LaPoint and carried. 

Motion was made by Dr. Stadelman to resume the open session. The motion was seconded by Ms. Smyth and carried unanimously. Motion to approve ten applications for exam, eight applications for comity, one application for corporate reinstatement and two applications for corporate license, was made by Dr. LaPoint, seconded by Ms. Smyth and carried unanimously. One application was denied for comity, but was approved to continue to take the exam, as the applicant had not taken and passed the ASBOG® exam or an equivalent exam, as required by law and rule. 

There being no further business, on motion by Dr. Stadelman and second by Dr. LaPoint, the meeting was adjourned at 2:10 pm. 

Respectfully submitted: 

Kenneth B. Taylor, Secretary/Treasurer